We are pleased to announce a new article on Featured Creatures!

Take a sneak peek with this excerpt from the article: Bagous hydrillae O’Brien is a semi-aquatic weevil that feeds on the aquatic invasive weed Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle (Figure 1). Larvae of the weevil mine hydrilla stems and the adults feed on the stems and submerged leaves. This weevil was discovered during overseas surveys for biological control agents for hydrilla during the 1980s and was first introduced to the U.S. in Florida in 1991 after extensive host-specificity testing. Another species, Bagous affinis Hustache (Insecta: Coleoptera: Curculionidae), was introduced to the U.S. after being discovered in India, but failed to establish.

Figure 1. Adult of the hydrilla stem weevil, Bagous hydrillae. Photograph by Gary Buckingham, USDA-ARS.

Available at: http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/BENEFICIAL/Bagous_hydrillae.htm

Authors: Emma Weeks, Jim Cuda, Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Michael J. Grodowitz, U.S. Army Engineer Research & Development Center

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